Justice

My students at the school have been diligently working on an essay about a time that they had to overcome a barrier in their lives. For some, it was quite simple to pinpoint that one time in their lives when they had to push through and overcome. For others, it was quite a struggle. The struggle to choose a specific time when they had to overcome. Another perspective of the fight was putting the deep groanings of their heart on paper and truly illustrate their desire to continue to overcome. The essay that pricked my heart came from a student that has overcome many obstacles, and yet he has challenged me. I pray that his words are an encouragement and a challenge to all who read it.

Justice

 Justice is punishing what is wrong and rewarding what is right.  In God's sight, justice is punishing sin and rewarding the righteous.

 When you have justice, you have something to fight for.  I started fighting for God when I came to the U.S. from Ethiopia, which is located in the horn of Africa.  While I was fighting for God, I faced many temptations.  I went through scary things:  visions, dreams, and I had tough choices between right and wrong.  The temptations I faced were jealousy, lying, stealing, and so much more.  The scary things (visions and dreams) are when I saw the devil in my dreams and visions that happened when I am about to fall asleep. The choices were even harder for me because whatever I thought was right turned out to be wrong.  When I was going through these hard times I prayed to God that He would help me out of these temptations, scary things, and tough choices.  

 Another thing that happens when you are fighting for God is that you will struggle with sin.  Sin is what God hates, but He already defeated sin.  When I sin I just ask God for forgiveness so I can start a new chapter.  Sometimes when I do something bad and I know I am in big trouble, I just feel like I am in some kind of darkness because I think about what my punishment is and what God would do to me.  Another thing is I'll start having a bad feeling about what I did and why I did it.  Darkness and bad feelings become a habit when I sin big against somebody.  The only thing I can ask God is that I'll get out of this mess that I made and that He will forgive me.  

 After God was helpful by helping me out of the mess I was in and forgave me, everything went easy for me because God was with me and He was being helpful.  Then I began to have joy because God was working through me and I felt His helpful hand on me.  Then, finally everything was peaceful because God made it and God had already won the battle and I don't have to worry about it.  

 In conclusion, a barrier that I face daily is being tempted to sin.  When you are fighting for God the devil tries hard to destroy you, but God is in charge of the devil.  Sin cannot stop me from fighting for God because God has already destroyed sin and God is powerful.  When you are fighting for God, He is helpful, strong, kind, graceful, and He gives you blessings and freedom.  

 Justice is punishing what is wrong and rewarding what is right.  In God's sight, justice is punishing sin and rewarding the righteous.  

*used by permission of the student author